Adjudication and Its Aftereffects in Three
Inter-American Court Cases Brought against
Paraguay: Indigenous Land Rights

Publication

Publication

This paper examines three Inter-American Court (IACtHR)
cases on behalf of the Enxet-Sur and Sanapana claims for
communal territory in Paraguay. I argue that while the adjudication
of the cases was successful, the aftereffects of adjudication
have produced new legal geographies that threaten
to undermine the advances made by adjudication. Structured
in five parts, the paper begins with an overview of the
opportunities and challenges to Indigenous rights in Paraguay
followed by a detailed discussion of the adjudication of
the Yakye Axa, Sawhoyamaxa, and Xákmok Kásek cases.
Next, I draw from extensive ethnographic research investigating
these cases in Paraguay to consider how implementation
actually takes place and with what effects on the
three claimant communities. The paper encourages a discussion
between geographers and legal scholars, suggesting
that adjudication only leads to greater social justice if it is
coupled with effective and meaningful implementation.